Google's secretive Japanese robotics division is reportedly up for sale — here's everything we know about it

The Toyota Research Institute is in final talks with Google to
purchase Schaft, a Japanese robotics division, Nikkei reported.

Tech Insider reported last week that Toyota
was closing in on a deal to buy Google's robotics division Boston
Dynamics. But Nikkei reported Wednesday that the Toyota Research
Institute is not only in talks to acquire Boston Dynamics, but
Schaft robotics as well.

Toyota and Google have yet to agree on the details, meaning the
deal could still fall through.

Schaft got its start at Tokyo University's Jouhou System Kougaku
(JSK) Laboratory before becoming a private company in 2013.
Before spinning off into Schaft, the JSK Lab developed and
patented a new motor that provided humanoid robots with better
strength and balance, IEEE Spectrum reported at the time.

One of the big problems of humanoid robots is the weakness of
robot’s power.... The strongest robot with electric motor can
generate one tenth power as much as actual human beings can
generate. Our team’s robot can generate ten times as much as
the strongest robot, which means that our robots can generate
the same power of an actual human being can generate.

The technology was seen as a huge advantage to Schaft at the time
as the JSK Lab spin-off company prepared for the 2013 DARPA
robotics challenge — a contest to see which team can create the
best disaster-response robot on the planet.

Google acquired Schaft just a few months before the DARPA
challenge, a competition that Schaft dominated. The 5-foot
5-inch, blue, bipedal robot won best in task in four
categories: terrain, ladder, debris, and hose, Gizmodo reported at the time.

The still-unnamed robot can carry 132 pounds and walk on uneven
terrain.

It can even make its way upstairs.

A spokesperson for Google X, Alphabet's moonshot division that
oversees its robotic projects, told IEEE Spectrum that the April presentation was
in no way indicative of a specific product roadmap:
"[It] wasn’t a product announcement or indication of a
specific product roadmap. The team was simply delighted to have a
chance to show their latest progress."

It's possible Schaft was trying to get its name out there
again after years of silence because it was splitting up
from Google, but we can't know for sure until a sale is
confirmed.